Notes, coins, disapproval

Ach, this blog. Ever since I saw how few people were viewing my vlogs on Youtube, I've lost the Lust to blog.

The other day I did find out something cool though.

I don't know how many of you know this, but the smallest euro note is a five. Under that, it's all coins. Which means I *always* have a pocket full of coins.

And yet, somehow, I never actually have any change.

I know how this happens--every night I put all my small coins in a piggy bank (actually an old cashew can from Aldi). Of course I've got to keep at least one one euro coin on me at all times so I can get a grocery cart or a locker at the library. And of course there are one- and two- euro coins, which is like, real money, so I've got to keep those with me.

Why do I hate change? Well, I hate the bulge, obviously, and the jangle, and the possibility of them falling out when I sit down, and the endless fishing in my pocket when I want to find something.

But the thing I don't get is why cashiers always ask me for coins. Like, if I hand you a note, just take it and shut up! That's probably considered rude or something, paying with a note. Whatever.

This gets really annoying, especially because when I say "no", the cashier is always able to make change. It's like, so why the hell did you ask me for coins if you weren't out of them?! So I could do you the favor of making your life more convenient? Danke sehr.

One time the cashier *didn't* have enough to make exact change. So she short-changed me.

Would that happen in the US?! I really doubt it. I think in the US, if the cashier (THE CASHIER, for crying out loud, 4/5 of whose job is making change) didn't have exact change, they would either find a way to borrow some from another register, or give you five cents too much.

Not in Berlin, where the customer is always wrong.

So, anyway, my news is that I discovered a way to instruct the Deutsche Bank ATM to give me lower denomination notes!

I'm totally psyched about this, because handing someone a fifty in Berlin feels like asking them to do you this huge favor.

I don't think you can do this in the US, can you?